Food Security: Where to Buy Produce & Groceries

Inshallah, Manitobans will erect greenhouses in all neighborhoods, hook them up to renewable energy sources (geothermal, solar, wind, below-market hydro), and secure healthy, delicious, local food year-round. Until then, here's to a healthier summer lifestyle!

Farmers Market
The season is approximately June through October.

• Le Marche, St. Norbert Farmers' Market , Wednesdays (1-7 pm) and Saturdays (8am-3pm), 3514 Pembina Hwy.
• Osborne Village Market, 4-8 pm, Thursdays at Osborne & River.
• Fort Whyte Alive, 12-6 pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
• Urban Market at the Riverview Community Centre, 90 Ashland Ave.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs)

• South Osborne Urban Community Cooperative
• Harvest Moon in Clearwater
• Nature's Farm in Steinbeck
• Fort Whyte Farms CSA
• Hwy 59 road trip

Grocery

Groceries are not the greatest in Winnipeg. I hear it's much, much worse in northern Manitoba, though. Ladies and gentlemen, we are far, far away from a real growing season.

• Vita Health, for example in Osborne Village, sells some products (eg. kefir, Thayer's witch hazel face lotion, elk smokies) that are difficult to find elsewhere in this town.
• Vic's (A-1038 Pembina Highway, 475-833), sells expensive, fresh produce, meats, cheeses, as well as crackers and Indian packeted dishes.
• In summer only, Crampton's Farm Produce Market (1765 Waverley at Bishop Grandin, 204-269-3355) sells high quality local produce, affordable baked goods, and meat.
• Mondragon Cafe (91 Albert St. in the Exchange) has a tiny grocery section, Sacco & Vanzetti's, from which they sell produce, and some canned, boxed and refrigerated foods.
• Organza at Confusion Corner and Organic Planet Worker Co-op grocery (877 Westminister Avenue in Wolseley; phone 204-772-8771) both have delis that sell juice and coffee. Organza sells simple, nontoxic, bulk household cleaning products, such as baking soda, and a small amount of bulk ingredients. Along with the Vita Health chain (local to Manitoba), both stores sell expensive organic home & body-care products. These small groceries also sell a nominal amount of very expensive, low-quality organic produce. For example, one (1) petite head of organic purple cabbage and one (1) chocolate bar together cost me over $10 (2010) at Organic Planet (I have no idea how this business model can possibly survive, unless there are thousands of masochistic experimenters like myself; but the stores look lonely).
• This is not to say that there aren't standard supermarkets in Winnipeg. There are plenty of tiresome, fluorescent-lit supermarkets to stagger through in Winnipeg; unfortunately, food is only somewhat-less horrifyingly expensive here than the small specialty groceries, relative to grocery stores in agricultural regions that can competitively grow produce (eg. Oregon). Winnipeg's supermarkets sell plenty of standardized mass food from far away that English people like (Who knew that Tetley black teas could take up an entire supermarket aisle?), as well as things made out of canola (You will never see such gigantic, useless margarine sections in a grocery store any place else on Earth, gracias a dios). On the upside, the supermarkets sell fair trade coffee. Its fair trade culture is a point in Winnipeg's favor.

Winnipeg Localvore Resources and Organizations

• 100 Mile Manitoba
• Fair Trade Manitoba
• Food Matters Manitoba / Manitoba Food Security Network
• Ethical Food Market
• MAFRI's Buy Manitoba
• Bison meat in MB (MAFRI)

U-pick Produce

MAFRI's U-pick vegetable availability chart

• Prairie Fruit Growers Association U-pick search engine.
• Call Marg's Strawberry Patch & Organics Plus farm (702 Dawson Rd., Lorette, MB; phone 204-878-4353) for a U-pick appointment. Pick strawberries, and/or buy vegetables, rhubarb and honey.
• MAFRI's (Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives) on-line U-Pick search engine.